Thursday, May 15, 2008

Bee Careful!

My hubby has a new hobby! He's so excited about the prospect of seeing the fruits of his labor. He is becoming a bee keeper. Or is it farmer? Would bee's be equivalent to livestock or poultry. They do make a product, you know. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Yesterday, my hubby and my father-in-law made their way almost to Tennessee to pick up a couple of hives. Our family has been prepared for the new addition to our residence. Believe me, we've watched the whole PBS series on bees. Two days worth of VHS tapes. Oh yes, we know what we are doing. Not really. But we're gonna try.
So here is the keeper of the bees, proudly showing the wax that will eventually hold the larva of new bees and then the honey that will help our baby girl's allergies.
Ok, so it is kinda cool to see up close. I'm not saying that I'm as excited as the keeper of the bees but I can see the potential for cool experience here.
He had a spot ready for the little guys when he came in last night. Let me tell ya. Those bees weren't happy last night. No sir, none whatsoever!
This is the smoker thingamajiggy. It has a fire in it. Then puffs out smoke. It's suppose to calm the bees. I don't think it does.
Awww, the keeper of the bees. The box there is called a super. I'm not sure that's how it's spelled but I've got to go to work and I don't have time to look it up. So, the super goes on top of the other box. That's where the honey will eventually come from.
He's off to uncap the first box. (He's taking the lid off of the house of a bunch of pissed off bees.) Basically. Oh, sorry. Excuse my language, please.
I stood on the back porch and took a couple of pictures.
But, it was really boring so I had to get close. Really, I did.
Those little critters were swarming all around his face. I was standing about 20 feet away. After a couple of shots I realized that it was entirely too close for comfort!
For those of you who know what a scaredy cat I am. You know that I had anything that bites or stings. I had my daughter take this picture for proof that I did get kinda close. I don't think I'll do it again. I'm off to work. Everybody have a great night!

2 comments:

Kim said...

That is crazy. My Dad used to be a bee keeper. That is a fun new experience I am sure.

Brittney said...

My mom is VERY allergic to bees and passed her fear of them onto me. You're standing much closer than I would, so I'm proud of you!